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Last time we checked up on General Motors’ Wentzville, MO plant, the facility was under “critical event status,” and was working overtime to help meet demand of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size pickups. Little has changed since then, with Automotive News reporting the plant has now cut workers’ unpaid lunch break and gotten rid of a six-minute production delay between shifts in order to increase production capacity.

AN says the lunch break cut and eliminating the six-minute production lull will result in an extra 18 minutes of production in the plants’ current three-shift work day. As a result, an additional 3,500 Colorados and Canyons will leave the production line each year. In addition to this, the plant has also hired on about 1,000 ‘flex’ workers to fill Saturday and Sunday shifts, which in itself could result in an extra 2,000 trucks a month.

According to insiders close to the matter, GM was caught off guard by the demand for the Colorado and Canyon. It was extra difficult to guess how high demand would be for the two mid-size pickups as the segment had been mostly abandoned by automakers and consumers, AN says, and with unexpectedly low fuel prices sticking around, demand for trucks and SUVs are unusually high.

J.D. Power data shows Chevy Colorados are only sticking around on dealer lots for an average of 12 days before finding a home, making it one of the fastest selling vehicles industry wide. One Chicago area dealer told AN they were “asking for 10 times what they’re giving us,” in regards to Colorado inventory, and that store is far from an outlier.

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13 Comments

This is good news for GM and is, perhaps, an indicator of a healthy US economy generally. I wonder how much, if any, Colorado/Canyon sales are cannibalizing Silverdo/Sierra sales? I know if I was in the market for a truck I would buy one of the former.

doesn’t seem like they are imposing on the full size GM trucks very much, both Silverado and Sierra have month-over-month and year-over-year gains.
most people are opting for the midsize trucks rather than CUVs

Yes, the $39K extended cab 4×4 Colorado at the local lot DID find a home. It’s gone. Somebody paid nearly $40k for an extended cab S10! Across the street, the full size aluminum 4×4 F150 crew cabs (including turbo V6, and a back seat that can accommodate humans) are also selling like hotcakes for about the same price. THAT makes more sense.

Coming from a farming family, we always purchase the latest Silverado when we are looking to buy a new truck. So while I thought the Colorado and the Canyon were cool ideas, I never really took them seriously or cared much about them.

However, this is really impressive. Good job, GM. I can understand now how people who talk whispers and rumors of a true “Raptor Fighter” say it should be based off the Colorado.

I wonder how big of a part Chevy’s marketing campaign for the Colorado had to do with this. Those commercials were pretty funny.

This truck makes me want to make up reasons to need a truck. GM has done a great job of targeting those who traditionally don’t buy trucks; unfortunately for Chevy/GMC, I’m targeting an ATS when my Regal lease is up!

My immediate thought was exactly like yours. I can except most any – short term – work condition that “needs of the business” require. Missing lunch wouldn’t be one of those exceptible conditions. There has to be more to this. At least I hope so. Hungry, grumpy employees likely won’t build the best truck. If that happens long enough, those 1000 flex employees will be out of work.

I have owned my extended cab GMC Canyon for 2 months and have already logged 4,500 miles. I have owned many trucks in the past, including Chevrolet, Ford and Tundras, but never a truck as satisfying as this one. The first thing I noticed was how exceptionally quiet it is inside the cab, even at freeway speeds. Next was the small turning radius, even with my four-wheel drive. And the accessories such as back-up camera, GPS screen, lane departure warning, hands-free Bluetooth cell phone ability, easy-down tailgate, and more are all features that were not available on my last truck (Tundra) but are now “indispensable” in my daily drive routine. The truck is a major homerun for GM. Ron…

They forgot to mention that they have taken away their saturdays off and sometimes sundays making them work weeks at a time. They can have one saturday off every 5 weeks. Im pregnant and miss my husband.